LONDON , England -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- When Danish auteur Lars von Trier presented his gothic thriller , `` Antichrist '' at Cannes Film Festival last month , it was greeted with cat-calls , jeers and , at times , disbelieving laughter .

Danish auteur Lars von Trier has been making films that shock , provoke and impress for over 40 years .

Filmmakers are expected to give audiences a hard time at Cannes and the two-hander starring Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg as a couple grieving the loss of a child is no exception .

But it was the level of pornographic sex and visceral brutality that outraged some and astonished many .

Von Trier was labeled a woman-hater for the wince-inducingly horrific final scene in which female lead Charlotte Gainsbourg takes a pair of rusty scissors to her genitals and performs a DIY clitoridectomy right to camera .

An Ecumenical Jury that normally hands out a prize at Cannes celebrating spiritual values felt moved to award `` Antichrist '' an `` anti-prize '' for being `` the most misogynist movie from the self-proclaimed biggest director in the world . ''

`` Lars von Trier , we get it , '' wrote film critic Wendy Ide in UK paper The Times . `` You really , really do n't like women . ''

Misogyny could n't be further from the truth , according to Von Trier , who says he sees himself up there on the screen : `` I mostly see myself as the female character , '' the 53-year-old director told CNN in Cannes . Do you think that Lars von Trier is a woman-hater ? Tell us below in the SoundOff box

The director says that he shot the film as a form of therapy after recovering from a serious mental illness . Indeed , a few years ago , it was questionable whether von Trier , who is famously multi-phobic , would be able to make another film .

In the winter of 2006 , he fell victim to depression and checked into hospital , the aftermath of which left him `` like a blank sheet of paper , '' he told Danish paper Politiken at the time .

Today , if not fully recovered -- the most terrifying thing he can think of is still `` myself '' -- he is able to function once more and is receiving cognitive behavioral therapy to help him face up to his psychological issues .

Despite , or perhaps because of , what he describes as his `` sensitive '' nature , von Trier is one of today 's great contemporary European auteurs , considered responsible for spearheading a revival in the fortunes of Scandinavian filmmaking .

`` I think that if you are , shall we say , sensitive , then there is a good side and a bad side about it , '' said von Trier . `` The good side is that you can sometimes achieve something creatively . But , of course , it always also allows some of these negative thoughts in . '' Watch Lars von Trier talking to CNN 's The Screening Room about `` Antichrist '' ''

He has been nominated for the top prize at Cannes , the Palme D'Or , a staggering eight times , winning once in 2000 for the harrowing operatic tragedy , `` Dancer in the Dark , '' starring Icelandic musician , Bjork , who also took home the Best Actress prize that year .

It is rumored Bjork became so unhinged filming `` Dancer in the Dark '' she ate her own cardigan . Von Trier claimed each morning she would say `` Mr von Trier , I despise you , '' and spit at him . In pictures : The wierd world of Lars von Trier ''

Von Trier has a reputation for being tough on his actors . His friend and long-time collaborator , actor Stellan Skarsgard describes von Trier as `` not uncomplex . ''

`` I was scared , '' admitted Gainsbourg who won Best Actress at Cannes for her performance . `` I had heard stories about him as a director ... maybe he 's cruel and vicious . '' But she now describes him as her `` guide '' and `` the greatest director I 've ever worked with . ''

Fueled by his unconventional approach and upbringing , the mythology surrounding von Trier looms large over everything he touches .

Brought up in Copenhagen by bohemian parents who were committed nudists , he suffers from crippling bouts of agoraphobia ; and , most famously , a fear of flying . Each visit to Cannes involves a five-day road trip from Denmark to the French Riviera by camper van .

He has an undeniable egotistical streak : this year at Cannes , he declared , `` I am the best filmmaker in the world , '' and in 1991 , when displeased that Cannes jury president Roman Polanski had only awarded `` Europa '' the runner-up Grand Prix prize , he called him a `` dwarf . ''

He also seems to actively court controversy : 1998 Palme D'Or contender `` Dogme # 2 : The Idiots '' grabbed headlines for being the first commercial film to show non-simulated sex on screen , and for von Trier 's typically eccentric claim that the best way to prepare actors for sex scenes is to direct in the nude .

But , von Trier says , he has always taken a deeply personal approach to the experimental , often dark and challenging works that he creates . He says he finds it difficult to know how to satisfy the needs of others with his films and so works only for himself .

`` I feel very strongly for satisfying , maybe not my own needs , but my own idea of the film and the images that come from within , '' he told CNN .

`` If I did n't follow my instinct , then I ca n't work . ''

@highlight

Pornographic sex and visceral violence in `` Antichrist '' shocked early audiences

@highlight

Von Trier was accused of misogyny but claims to identify with the female character

@highlight

`` Antichrist '' stars Charlotte Gainsbourg and Willem Dafoe as a bereaved couple

@highlight

Von Trier 's `` The Idiots '' -LRB- 1998 -RRB- was first mainstream film to show non-simulated sex